Political Quotes

“today I will oppose the nomination of Strobe Talbott for Deputy Secretary of State. This is not a decision I make lightly nor one I make for solely philosophical differences. In general, I am disposed to give great deference to Presidential nominations. However, I have serious reservations about Mr. Talbott serving in such a high policy position in the U.S. Government. There is no doubt that Ambassador Talbott is an intellectual with experience in foreign policy arena particularly in Russia. However, I have found that Mr. Talbott's judgment as expressed in numerous articles to be severely flawed. His opinions particularly on Israel and on the Soviet Union are disturbing. In his writings over the last decade he was remarkably shortsighted in his failure to recognize the importance of Israel to the security interests of the United States. He challenged every Reagan/Bush initiative which heralded us to successfully triumph over the Soviet threat. Today, Ambassador Talbott says that he believes the breakup of the Soviet Union was inevitable. He opposed the U.S. defense buildup of the eighties. He opposed the MX missile, the B-1 and B-2 bombers and Trident II submarine-launched missile programs. He also opposed the placement of Pershing missiles in Europe.”